Typical dessert flavors this time of year: sweet potato, apple, caramel, pumpkin, spice. What’s key lime doing here? If you’re up for breaking tradition, consider these upside down key lime pies. This dessert recipe yields only 4-6 servings, which is convenient for smaller gatherings. They’re make-ahead, individually portioned, and just plain FUN. Plus, a light and refreshing dessert especially hits the spot after a heavier meal. Give your rolling pin and pie crust recipe a break. Can we make key lime pie at Thanksgiving a thing?
Tell Me About these Upside Down Key Lime Pies:
We’re essentially baking a full key lime pie, only scaled down to fit a few custard cups. If you like key lime pie, you’ll go nuts for these.
Texture: The texture is like a full size key lime pie or key lime pie bars—smooth custardy filling, crunchy graham cracker crust, soft whipped cream. Plenty of satisfying texture in each bite. Taste: Wham! Full-bodied tangy, yet sweet flavor hits your tastebuds like a windstorm. The tartness of lime is balanced with the sweetness in the crust and whipped cream. Ease: Simple. The filling comes together with a mixer and you can break up the graham crackers with your hands. The only tricky part, if we can even call it that, is baking the custard cups in a water bath. Which, really, is just pouring hot water into a baking dish. Serving: Serving desserts in individual cups seems fancier—almost like we’re dining at a restaurant. Everyone gets their own portion and you can get creative garnishing each with whipped cream, lime slices, raspberries, chopped nuts, etc. Feels extra special if you ask me. Time: The filling comes together in minutes and baking is pretty quick too. The only things testing our patience are the cooling and chilling times. You can serve these once they cool to room temperature (about an hour), but they taste better if you chill them for an additional hour. Compared to other desserts, 2 hours isn’t so bad!
You Only Need 7 Ingredients
10 if you add homemade whipped cream.
Can I Make This with Lemons?
Yes! Swap lime juice for lemon juice and lime zest for lemon zest. Same process, bake time, and cool/chill times.
Whipped Cream or Meringue Topping
You can leave the upside down pies plain or add either of these toppings.
Homemade whipped cream kicks any dessert up a notch. You need heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla extract. Halve my recipe to make just enough. Mixing time remains the same. I used Wilton 8B piping tip to pipe whipped cream in these photos. Instead of whipped cream, try marshmallow meringue. How convenient because you can use your 3 leftover egg whites to make it. Though I have a separate post for marshmallow meringue frosting, follow the marshmallow meringue recipe and instructions in my s’mores brownie cupcakes. (That recipe uses 3 egg whites and makes the perfect amount for 4-6 individual key lime pies.)
3 Important Tips
This recipe is part of Sally’s Pie Week, an annual tradition where I share a handful of new recipes that fit into the pie/crisp/tart category. Join the community below!
